You don't taste the celery per se, but what you do taste is a savory substantiveness and depth that a margarita doesn't have on its own. Called the Celery 'n Smoke at The Black Cypress in Pullman, Washington (go Cougs!)

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Mike Filigenzi wrote:Interesting! I could see how that combination would work well.

It did! And this was the kind of place that had a serious cocktail menu with intriguing drink names like 'Frank Bruni' and 'R W Apple'--each drink borrowed from somewhere else, and credit given to each establishment or tradition (as in the case of New Orleans' Sazerac) that suggested a worldly sophistication far removed from a town with a permanent population of just 25,000 that made you trust everything on this list: if they put it there, it had to be great.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

I've always found celery one of those things I puzzle over: the taste, texture and smell are usually repulsive to me. Actually, I can get over the smell; it's the taste and the texture that repel me most. Been that way ever since I've been a kid.

When people go on and on about celery by itself, celery with peanut butter, celery with cream cheese, etc., I suppress a bit of a gag reflex. I'm sorta okay with cooked celery. And oddly enough, I don't mind celery salt. The celery notes in some Gruners are not objectionable at all. But celery? Feh.

Still, I'd try it. And I've had cocktails with celery bitters that were surprisingly good. So I'd be game for this cocktail.

Mike Filigenzi wrote:Interesting! I could see how that combination would work well.

It did! And this was the kind of place that had a serious cocktail menu with intriguing drink names like 'Frank Bruni' and 'R W Apple'--each drink borrowed from somewhere else, and credit given to each establishment or tradition (as in the case of New Orleans' Sazerac) that suggested a worldly sophistication far removed from a town with a permanent population of just 25,000 that made you trust everything on this list: if they put it there, it had to be great.

Don't you love the craft cocktail movement? We now have four or five bars in town like the one you mention, with wonderful, creative cocktail programs. You do have to get past the hipster element a bit (here, anyway) but it's well worth it and the bartenders generally love to talk about what they do. I've had a lot of fun just giving them general parameters ("something on the bitter side" or "a bourbon drink") and letting them mix something up based on that.

Gotta say, though, that there aren't many drinks that beat the simple elegance and power of a well-made Sazerac.

Gotta say, though, that there aren't many drinks that beat the simple elegance and power of a well-made Sazerac.

True, that.

Partly because of personal predilections, partly because it's what I do professionally, and partly because it's such a lively scene here in Portland, I am pretty plugged in to the cocktail scene here. And what a scene it is: Portland is now operating on every bit the rarefied level of New York Chicago and San Francisco.

One of my good personal friends and a partner in crime educationally just won the Bombay Sapphire Inspired Bartender of the Year Award (with a pho-inspired Sapphire gin cocktail, I kid you not). These guys are remarkable. Talented, creative, imaginative, well grounded in their chosen field (and most of them, Mike, sneer heavily at some of the posturing hipsters in their field).

Speaking of this...when the hell are you and the lovely wife going to come up here and let me show you some of the cocktail scene? Can I entice you with the twenty or so cognacs I have lurking in my larder these days?

Hoke - Would love to point the car north on I-5 and check out Portland. I had plans to make it up for Cocktail Week, in September, but those fell through. Some other issues have kept me close to home lately and probably will through the spring. After that, I ought to be able to get up there and check out some of those bars you've been writing about as well as a restaurant or two.

Mike Filigenzi wrote:Don't you love the craft cocktail movement? We now have four or five bars in town like the one you mention, with wonderful, creative cocktail programs. You do have to get past the hipster element a bit (here, anyway) but it's well worth it and the bartenders generally love to talk about what they do. I've had a lot of fun just giving them general parameters ("something on the bitter side" or "a bourbon drink") and letting them mix something up based on that.

Gotta say, though, that there aren't many drinks that beat the simple elegance and power of a well-made Sazerac.

I'm only just getting into the cocktail thing. As the child of one of those Mad Men kind of guys, I grew up around it in a way that didn't earn my respect. I felt I'd moved way beyond that by becoming the wine afficianado I am, and that was a target I specifically aimed for. It has taken some doing to nudge me off that perch, and your and Hoke's enthusiasm for the movement as expressed here on this board is more responsible than anything else for the fact that I finally took the plunge--hence me sharing about this wonderful drink in a wonderful restaurant made all the more amazing by the fact that it was a tiny little town (non-hipster pop. 25,000) deep in Romney territory.

Hoke, a pho-inspired gin cocktail? The mind boggles. But now that I've been impressed with a celery-based drink (a flavor I am not, like you, predisposed against), well I suppose anything's possible. When I get back to Pullman, my next victim is called a Corn and Oil. I forget what's supposed to be in it, but I'm game for anything that doesn't my two bugaboos, cream or egg white. And we'll get down to Portland one of these days, just gotta get the kitty back on her feet.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Hoke wrote:I've always found celery one of those things I puzzle over: the taste, texture and smell are usually repulsive to me. Actually, I can get over the smell; it's the taste and the texture that repel me most. Been that way ever since I've been a kid.

Hoke, were you 'stalked' as a child?

Celery is often more crunch than flavour in terms of the reason for being in a recipe, but in less powerful recipes the celery flavour is pretty interesting. What turns you off, the veg itself or the taste? Can you stomach similar flavours like lovage? Can you eat celeriac? Never come across a celery-phobe before.

Bill, I took an immediate and intense dislike of raw celery when I was a child, and have never come around to liking it since. As I said, I can tolerate it cooked, but never have liked it.

Yes, I eat celery root and celeriac. Don't seek them out, but do eat them without any qualms. Use celery salt too. Have had celery bitters on more than one occasion (it's relatively popular in cocktails as a savory ingredient). Also love the distinctive celery notes in some Gruner Veltliner and occasionally Sauvignon Blancs.

If I had to pin it down, the closest I could get to defining my non-celery attitude is the stringiness, the fibrous toughness, allied with a biting, unripe green taste...so it's the combination of texture and flavor of raw celery that turns me off.